Green Iguana (Wild Life America by Schleich)

Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972

The common or green iguana (Iguana iguana) is a reptile of many titles. It’s the largest member of the iguana family, measuring up to 1.7 metres from head to tail, with most of that length being tail. It has probably the widest distribution of any lizard, ranging throughout most of South America and all the way up into southern Mexico, plus it’s been introduced to places like Florida, Hawaii, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan. And it’s by far the most popular pet reptile, although it requires a great deal of special care. They will occasionally consume animal matter, but are for the most part herbivores, or more specifically, folivores preferring leafy plant growth. Fruits, vines, and flowers are also on the menu.

Here is the 2022 Schleich iguana, a relatively small critter at 10.5 cm long. It is sculpted with its head raised, its left hind leg sprawled out behind it, and its tail pointing to the right. Looks like it’s basking in the warmth of the sun, as iguanas and other lizards are prone to doing on a regular basis. It looks relaxed, yet also alert, ready to act quickly if necessary. An iguana’s first response to danger is to rapidly flee, but when cornered, it can defend itself ferociously with its sharp teeth and claws and its rough scaled, whip-like tail.

The name notwithstanding, green iguanas can occur in a variety of colours including blue, black, brown, and red. This particular individual is done up in a combination of dull blue-green and orange with airbrushed dark brown on the toes and dewlap and for the stripes along the tail. The eyes are black and the round subtympanic shields on the cheeks are sky blue. It looks pretty realistic overall, and given that the CollectA and Safari Ltd. iguanas are both coloured green, it’s a nice touch of variety. The all-black eyes are an inaccuracy, though, as real iguanas have brown eyes with black pupils.

Given the small size of this toy, it’s nowhere near as painstakingly sculpted as the two larger ones mentioned in the last paragraph, but it’s decent enough. The head is covered in large scales while its body features much smaller scales and crisscrossing wrinkles. The head also features a very large dewlap hanging down from the throat and the round subtympanic shields on its cheeks. The exact purpose of these shields remains unknown, but it could be that they are used for communication or intimidation. A tall row of spines runs from the back of the head to partway down the tail, which is relatively short and terminates in a blunted tip. However, like many lizards, iguanas are capable of shedding their tails in order to escape predators and then gradually regrowing them. Perhaps this individual has done just that.

The weakest part about this iguana is probably its feet. Iguanas have long, thin digits, particularly on their hind feet, but the feet on this toy look rather generic and unremarkable. But again, this is a fairly small toy and both the shape of the feet and the length of the tail may have been a matter of helping to ensure safety and durability.

Overall, this is a pleasing little iguana toy, one of only a few lizards that Schleich has produced over the years. It is to be hope that they will tackle more species in the future. A gecko or a flying dragon or a spiny-tailed lizard would be neat!